Stand Your Ground may protect you from criminal charges – but not lawsuits

[Disir]

Beating a criminal rap thanks to Florida’s controversial Stand-Your-Ground law doesn’t automatically shield you from civil lawsuits.

That was the decision Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court, which said that “immunity” granted by criminal-court judges don’t apply to lawsuits filed in civil court.

Justices ruled in the case of a man named Nirav Patel, who struck a Tampa bar patron in the eye with a cocktail glass. A criminal-court judge ruled that Patel was acting in self-defense and granted him immunity from a charge of felony battery.

But the injured patron, Ketan Kumar, filed a lawsuit against Patel, who argued that the criminal court’s decision applied in the newly filed civil case. The local appeals court agreed.


The Florida Supreme Court, however, reversed the decision, ruling that a judge in a civil case would have to determine whether Patel was immune from a civil lawsuit.



Critics have long maintained that Florida’s 2005 Stand Your Ground law has fostered a shoot-first mentality among citizens and given criminals a pass at justice.
Stand Your Ground may protect you from criminal charges – but not lawsuits

Which is in line with other laws in the state. Looks like a convoluted mess to get to something that is not that surprising.

 

[JGalt]

1. The Stand Your Ground law or Castle Doctrine gives you the right to use deadly force.

2. Dead people don't sue you.

3. Problem solved.

 

[Slashsnake]

...This year, the Legislature updated the law, forcing prosecutors to shoulder the legal burden of disproving a self-defense claim at the “immunity” hearings. Statewide, prosecutors opposed the bill, which was pushed by politically powerful National Rifle Association.

A Miami-Dade judge ruled the updated law is unconstitutional, setting up another round of appellate legal battles.

All the state legislators have to do is strip the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (in that state) from striking the law down.

The Supreme court doesn't decide what laws are to be followed, they make sure the laws written are followed.

 

[Disir]

All the state legislators have to do is to rewrite the law so that it doesn't violate the state constitution.